Little Moments That Change Things
by BJ's world
Summary: Another take on 2x05 between Hal and Maggie. Set after the end of the episode, but includes scenes from it. First Falling Skies fic.


Little Moments That Change Things

Maggie woke up with a start, wondering where she was. It took her a few moments, before realising she was in a hospital bed. The hospital which they had scouted out earlier for medical supplies, the hospital where she'd sat on the steps not that many hours ago and…..well where Hal had kissed her. She'd be replaying their conversation over and over in her head since it had happened. Her shutting Hal down when he wanted to talk about it, _'I want there to be'_ was what he'd said to her, before she done what she's always done best, run away. Well not run away but jumped, on her motorbike and rode away before he could even get over to his bike to follow her. God she didn't know what to think. Things between then had been tense all day. From first thing that morning, when he'd followed her because she wasn't in her tent, to the moment when he came back for her when the Mechs blasted her off her bike, on their way back from the medical run.

It was only as she was thinking about this, that she heard a noise from inside the room. Turning to her right, she saw Hal sitting in a chair, asleep. His breathing was heavy, but it was the most peaceful Maggie had seen him for a long time. Although still with his gun by his side, even asleep he never let the thing be more than ten yards away from him, it wasn't worth the risk, he'd once told her. Just as she was thinking how things had changed recently, Dr Glass came into the room.

_'How you doing Maggie?' _Dr Glass asked. _'Sore' _Maggie replied. _'Well I'm not surprised, you took quite a hit. It took us a while to stop the bleeding, but you were lucky there was no permanent damage' _explained Dr Glass. _'Well that makes a change'_ said Maggie thinking about what she had been through all those years ago, when she had been operated on time and time again because of the cancer. Dr Glass looked over at Hal, who was still asleep and then turned back to Maggie, _'He's been here all night, even when you'd fallen to sleep, we tried to get him to move, but he wouldn't leave, he wanted to stay'_. _'Really?'_ Maggie asked shocked, she'd only asked his to stay until she'd fallen asleep, she was expecting him to go as soon as she had. Dr Glass smiled, _'Yes really, he can be pretty stubborn when he wants too, he even missed centaury duty'._ Maggie was shocked, Hal was a soldier, he never missed centaury duty. Dr Glass saw the look on the young woman's face and well it was clear to her that something was going on between the two of them, it had been for weeks, they were both just too stubborn to realise and do anything about it. _'Maggie, Hal cares about you and that was evident tonight, when he brought you in after you'd been hurt. Weaver asked him to drive the bus and he was just about calm enough to drive it, Loudres and I could see the panic and worry on his face. It's the look that he gets when Tom, Ben or Matt are in trouble or hurt. And the fact that he's stayed here all night speak volumes. The thing is I think you know how you feel about him too, but you are just trying not to get too close to him incase you hurt him. Am I right?'….._

Maggie just looked at the doctor, trying to take in what she had just said, so Dr Glass continued…._'just do one thing for me Maggie, don't push him away, if you do you might regret it and it could be too late. Just talk to him.'_ With that Maggie nodded and Dr Glass left her patient to think things over. Maggie just laid there, playing things over and over in her head. The doc was right, her and Hal's relationship had changed over the last few months. They had hated each other to begin with when they first met, but they had slowly begun to trust each other, especially on missions. She knew no matter what Hal had her back and she in return, but lately things had shifted further and she found herself opening up to him, something she rarely did. Like this afternoon on the steps of the hospital, she wouldn't have dreamt 4 months ago of telling him, what she'd told him this afternoon. Then there was earlier in the day, when they were trapped in the car, hiding from the Mechs. There wasn't a lot of room in the car, so they were close, but somehow it felt right. For once, she actually felt save, like as long as she was near Hal, everything was going to be ok.

But she'd shot him down. She'd told him they could never happen. They had a good thing going and she couldn't let that interfere with that they were trying to achieve, or could she. She'd told herself over and over again, she wasn't the right girl for him, that he'd be better off without her, but was she right. The thing was she did feel something for him and she wanted there to be something else between then, she just had to trust herself enough, to let him in just that little bit further, to allow herself to trust him, like she hadn't done in a long time.

Just then Hal woke up, which made Maggie smile. _'Hey'_ she said, as he sat up. _'hey to you too'_ he replied with that smile, which always got to her. _'How you feeling?' _he asked. _'Ok I guess, just sore'_ she replied. _'Good I'm glad you're ok, you had me worried there for a bit'_ Hal replied, with that look on his face again. _'I'm fine' _Maggie answered, while thinking about what Hal had said when he'd first come to see her that evening…._'I need you'_. At the same time Hal was thinking how close he'd come to losing her. He wasn't quite sure when he'd realised how much he needed Maggie, let alone how he felt about her. He wasn't even sure what 'this' was between then. That much had been pretty clear, after she'd been put into the room, after Dr Glass had sorted her out after the attack. He'd pretty much put it on the line to her earlier that day but telling her he wanted something more and that he needed her, especially after she had told him to stop it and that that nothing was going to happen between them. But then she'd asked his to stay, until she'd fallen asleep. The thing was when she'd drifted off, he found he couldn't leave her. Instead he sat there just watching her and holding her hand, until he must have fallen asleep himself. He'd even found himself telling his dad that he wasn't going to do centaury duty for the first time either. He just couldn't leave her, he didn't want her to wake up and be on her own. She meant more to him than that. She'd asked him to stay, so he was staying.

It was just then that both of them realised that neither of them had actually said anything for a while and were just staring at each other. Maggie was replaying Hal's words…_'I want there to be' and 'I need you'_ over and over again and Hal well he was trying to work out why she kept opening up to him and then pushing him away. Hal decided Maggie probably wanted some space, so got up to leave, not really knowing if he was doing the right thing or not. _'As you're ok, id better leave you to get some more rest' _he said, as he moved towards the door. Just as he reached the door, Maggie realised that she didn't want him to leave, she actually wanted him to stay. In fact she was going to do something she hadn't done in a long time and listen to someone's advice and called out to Hal, _'can you stay?'_ she asked. Hal turned round, he was not expecting this for a second time that night. _'Sure' _he replied, as he turned round and headed back towards the chair. The thing was Maggie didn't want him to stay in the chair, she wasn't sure what brought it on, but she actually wanted to be close to him again. Although Hal was in the room and she felt safe, she wanted to feel safer. She looked across at him, as he tried to get comfortable in the chair again and before she knew it _'Hal stay here'_ she said patting the side of the bed. Hal looked at her not really sure where it had come from, _'you sure?'_ he asked not wanting to push any boundaries that she wasn't ready for. _'Yeah I'm sure'_ replied Maggie, moving over to once side of the bed. Hal got up onto the bed and was trying to get comfortable. He wanted to give Maggie her space, but it was difficult in a single bed, so he put his arms above his head. However Maggie had other ideas, it was now or never in regards to Dr Glass' advice. She shifted over and leaned against his chest. As she did, Hal looked down at her, before putting his arm around her. With this Maggie said the one thing she never thought she'd say to anyone, _'Your family aren't the only people who need you Hal, I need you too'._ _'Finally come to you're sense then'_ Hal replied in their usual banter mode, smiling at Maggie and sharing that look that only they knew what was happening. For Maggie, she was letting someone in, letting someone get closer to her than anyone had ever been, trusting another person, while for Hal, he was moving on from Karen and actually finding something good out of this bloody invasion.

With that both of them settled and before they knew it they were both asleep, knowing that the one person they could trust, as right beside them. However little did they know, as they were fast asleep, they were being watched from the door. Dr Glass had come to check on Maggie again and Tom had joined her looking for Hal. Both adults stood at the door, watching Maggie in Hal's arms and looking relaxed, which neither of them had been for months now. Both turned to each other and smiled, to which Ann replied _'Finally' _and Tom _'It's about time, I though I was going to have to bang their heads together, they were being so stubborn'_ and with that Tom closed the door and left his eldest son and his best scout alone, knowing that no matter what happened, they had each other.


End file.
